Israel - Day 12

Day 12 was our final day in Israel. We packed our stuff and headed out for our final touring. We started with a tour of Tel Megiddo where Armageddon is supposed to happen. We moved from there to the town of Caesarea which lies on the Mediterranean Sea. It is a wealthy neighborhood where the smallest houses go for at least $1 million US dollars. We saw an ancient ampitheater and other city ruins and enjoyed breathtaking views of the Sea.

After Caesarea, we headed down to Jaffa, just south of Tel-Aviv. I went with my mom and Uncle John in search of access to a lighthouse where we would have some great views of Tel-Aviv. We only had about an hour to sightsee and we used it all trying to find the bottom of the lighthouse. We asked around but couldn't get a good answer. We finally gave up and headed back to the bus. Just beside the bus was an okay view of Tel-Aviv across the Sea.

From Jaffa, we headed to the Tal Hotel in Tel-Aviv where we spent our first night in Israel. We had a chance to freshen up and have a fairwell dinner with Joe and Marsha Shulam and Hannah, our tour guide. After dinner we headed to the airport for the long process of checking in. We flew out at 12:05 Israel time and began our journey back to the States. 11.5 hours later we touched down in Newark, went through customs, caught our tour bus, and drove 3 hours back to the church. Here's a picture of our group at the church just before going our separate ways.

Mom and I then hopped in my truck and drove 4 hours home to Richmond. From the time we left the hotel in Tel-Aviv until we arrived in Richmond was 25 hours! Although I absolutely loved Israel, it was good to be home. I'm now mostly caught up on sleep and feel ready to head back to the routine of work. I'll go into the office tomorrow to begin catching up while our office is closed for the holiday. I don't look forward to the craziness!

Israel - Day 11 - Pictures

Here'a couple of pictures to go along with Day 11. This first one I just thought was kind of cool. We were at Nazareth Village and were just returning from our tour when we entered a room with a bunch of these clay oil lamps. I found them fascinating.



The highlight from a picture standpoint was definitely Mount of Precipice where we could see for miles. The valley below is the Jezreel Valley - the largest valley in Israel.



Here's the stiched panorama I promised. It is a 180 degree view of teh valley from the mountain. Click on it to view a larger version.

Israel - Day 11 - To be Continued

Unfortunately I am not going to be able to post pictures and commentary this morning. With it being our final day, we are frantically trying to get all of our bags packed and ready to go. We were out late last night shopping in Tiberius (visiting Ken and Margie Crowell's Galilee Experience store) so I actually haven't even looked at my pictures from yesterday!

Here's a brief rundown of what we experienced yesterday:

We drove to Nazareth which is now a huge city spread throughout the hills. In Jesus' time, experts estimate that the town of Nazareth had between 500 and 5000 residents. Now Nazareth has around 500,000 residents! We visited the Nazareth Village which has reconstructed some buildings using only materials and methods used in Jesus' time. They have people in period dress with the flocks and and working as a carpenter and weaver. You can actually buy the stuff they make. It was a really neat experience to see how things would have looked 2000 years ago.

After Nazareth Village we took a quick tour of the Church (or Basilica) of Annunciation, a Catholic Church that celebrates the announcement from the angel Gabriel to Mary.

We then ate lunch in an Arab restaurant in Nazareth. I had something similar to a falafel but with lamb and hummus instead of falafel balls. It was pretty good but a bit of lamb goes a long way - I think I'm good until my next trip to Israel.

We traveled up to the Mount of Precipice which looks down on the Jezreel Valley. The views were amazing and I'm sure we all got some great pictures. I am anxious to try stitching together some panoramas of the greater than 180 degree views.

We stopped in the ancient Jewish town of Zippori which would have been the closest big city in the time of Jesus. Zippori is known for having the best mosaics from ancient times. The mosaics date back to the 3rd century but still look amazing. They had a ton of them and they have managed to stay preserved over the many years. They were truly spectacular.

Overall it was another great day. Today we hit Ceasarea, somewhere else I can't think of, and then head back for Tel Aviv with a short stop in Jaffa. We fly out of Tel Aviv at midnight Israeli time and arrive back in Newark around 5:30 AM Thursday morning. After a 3 hour trek back to the church, I have a 5 hour drive back to Richmond. It will be another long day! I'll catch up with the blog when I get back home.

Israel - Day 10

I need to type very fast this morning as my 24 hours of internet access are just about up. We started day 10 with a visit to Korazin, an ancient city where Jesus spent a lot of time teaching and healing. We examined the ruins and saw a current dig that is being done by students from the local town (which is called Korazin). It was neat to see the young Isreali kids getting the opportunity to discover their heritage.



We moved from there to Tel Dan which is a nature reserve and was absolutely beautiful. Lush green and rushing water from a spring. Tel Dan is also where they found the remains of the main city of the tribe of Dan. This is where King Jeraboam built what we believe to be a close replica of the first temple in Jerusalem when the nation was divided into two kingdoms.

After Tel Dan, we went to Caesarea Philippi where we saw another spring (the one mentioned above and this one are two of the three that feed the Jordan River). This is the ancient Israeli city famous for being where Jesus asked his disciples who men said he was and where Peter replied the Son of the Living God.

We ate lunch at a Druze (another religion in Isreal where their focus is on the priest Jethro - the High Priest of Midian and father-in-law of Moses) restaurant in one of their villages on the Golan Heights. It was delicious! They are right on the foot hills of Mount Herman. They are also on a beautiful man-made lake that is used for storing water.

We then drove up through the Golan Heights and stopped the closest we could get to the Syrian border. We talked about the Israeli wars and were able to look down on the United Nations station that lies in the demilitary zone (or no man's land) where neither Israeli nor Syrian can go. It was amazing to see how close we were to Syria. Syria really wants the Golan Heights back so there is a lot of tension in this area.

We drove down from the Golan Heights to our hotel and some of us headed down to the Sea of Galilee to swim. It was refreshing on such a hot day!

At dinner we had the privilege of meeting Ken and Margie Crowell. They own a factory that manufactures a large percentage of the cell phone antennas that you find on cell phones today. They also produce a lot of other types of antennas as well. They are the largest employer in the area. My grandparents first met them 40 years ago and became good friends. They have a neat not-for-profit group where they make little electronic devices that play the entire Bible and allow the user to find verses centered around a particular subject (like loneliness or fear). These radios are being distributed to military forces (mainly US). They are such a neat couple and I feel honored to have met them.

Sorry for the really disorganized and quick post. I am surprised I haven't been kicked off yet and figure it is coming any minute. I keep hitting save to make sure I get up as much as possible. I will probably re-edit this post this evening or tomorrow morning when I get my last round of internet access.

Israel - Day 9

We started day 9 out with a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee. This was an incredible experience. The boat was modern but built completely out of stained wood so it felt like an old fishing boat. They started out by hoisting the American flag up beside the Israeli flag to the U.S. National Anthem. We all sang along with our hands on our hearts. It was great to see our flag flying beside Israel’s and made me feel a little homesick. I do love it here but I love my homeland as well and am proud to be an American. Uncle John spoke about Jesus’ Galilee ministry and we sang along to some great music. It was a great time.



Here's Pappy pointing out what you can see along the way.



Mom and I on the bow.



And our fearless captain giving us a demonstration on how the fishermen in Jesus' day would have fished. He didn't catch anything...



We docked at a museum that houses the oldest boat that has been found in Israel (possibly the whole world?). It is actually 2000 years old. It was preserved in the mud along the banks until being discovered a couple of decades back. Pulling it out and transporting it was a very complicated process that involved a lot of the top scientists and archeologists in Israel. When they finally got the boat to the building where they were going to work on it, it took another 10 or so years of treating it with chemicals before it was ready to be put on display. After viewing the boat, we had some more shopping time (we seem to do a lot of that).

Our next stop was one of the neatest of the day. We climbed the Mount of Beatitudes. We found a cool spot that was like a natural amphitheater. We had another teaching by Uncle John and then some time for reflection. The mountain looks out on the Sea of Galilee so it had some beautiful views of the water. On our return down the mountain we found a side path that looked like it may be a short cut to the water. It was steep but very rewarding when we saw that it led us past the cave that many believe was a resting/sleeping place for Jesus while he was ministering on the mountain. We found a lot of lit candles inside the cave so it is clearly a popular spot for believers.

Here's a view of the Sea of Galilee from the Mount of Beatitudes.



And here's the cave.

After descending the Mount of Beatitudes, we visited the city of Capernaum. This is the city where Jesus lived for about 3 years of his public ministry. There are a lot of the remains of the city from back around Jesus' time. There is even the remains of a house right near the water that is believed to be where Peter lived (and Jesus stayed). I won’t go into all the details of why they feel this is the authentic site but it is fairly convincing. A Catholic church built their building above the spot and they have a glass floor inside that looks down on what is believed to be Peter’s house. We gathered in some shade by the water and talked for a few minutes before moving on once again.

Our final stop before lunch was the remains of Bethsaida, the ancient city where five of Jesus' apostles grew up (Peter, Andrew, James, John, & Phillip). This was a fairly short stop as there are really just a lot of rocks that make up the outlines of the buildings.

We ate lunch at Kibbutz En Gev where we all experienced the famous Saint Peter’s Fish that everyone raves about. This is the fish that I originally said I was not going to eat unless they cut the fish’s head off before bringing it to me. I really don’t like any food that can wink at me while I am eating it. I decided to suck it up and get the fish without any special requests. It was actually quite good and I managed to eat it without looking the fish in the eyes. Not something I would want to do on a regular basis but worth it for the experience.

We then went to the Jordan River for a baptism ceremony. Three of our tour group chose to be baptized in the Jordan. It was a neat experience.

Here's Adrienne:

And Sue:

And Clay:

And the whole crew:

Our last stop of the day was at a factory store that sells dried fruits, spices, and much much more. I picked up some dried papaya, pineapple, and bananas and sampled one of the most disgusting foods that has ever touched my tongue. It was only dried ginger but it was quite disgusting. It was a huge piece too so I can’t even imagine the look that must have been on my face!

It is hard to believe we are coming down the homestretch of our tour. We have already seen so much but the time has really flown by. Today we will hit quite a few more stops around the Sea of Galile including the Golan Heights, Dan, Caesarea Phillipi, and Safat. It will be another very full today so we should arrive back at the hotel tonight thoroughly exhausted! As someone so aptly put it, we didn’t come on this tour to rest, we can do that back in America!!!

Want something to pray for today? A massive heat wave has moved across the area and today’s high is forecasted to be around 107 degrees in Tiberius!

Israel - Day 8

Day 8 will not yield a ton of pictures but it was a very good day. We started by visiting a monastery on Mount Carmel. Mount Carmel is the mountain where Elijah faced off against the prophets of Baal.



The view from the monastery roof gives a good look at the mountain as well as the stream below where Elijah slaughtered the Baal prophets. Ordinarily you can see a lot farther but unfortunately the haze crept in again and limited our view.



Below is a statue of Elijah found on the grounds. For those of you from N&M, this is the same guy who is in the olive wood carving on my file cabinet. Elijah has always been one of my favorite Bible characters. This was an enjoyable destination for me.



From Mount Carmel, we went to the Tents of Mercy, a Messianic Jewish synagogue near Haifa. You can see below part of the worship service. The worship was in Hebrew but you could see the English translation on the screen.



As part of this week's service, they celebrated the Bar Mitzvah of one of the boys. It was very interesting to see this ceremony from a Messianic Jewish viewpoint. In the picture below, the boy is reading a portion of the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament).

After the service, the staff was kind enough to provide us with lunch while we socialized with some of the people. They all spoke English which made it easy to get to know them. They were such a sincere group of people, I know we all walked away feeling like we had made some good friends. Eitan Shishkoff, the Messianic Rabbi, and some of the elders from the church talked about their huge ministry to the local community. They are involved in outreach to the people migrating to Israel, to single mothers in the community, and to local women caught in a web of prostition because they cannot find a way to make it in their new country. They are doing a lot of things right and really had my respect and admiration. We were actually at the synagogue for 5 hours and ended up having to cut out the rest of our afternoon and just come back to the hotel. I wouldn't have traded that time for anything though.

Below is a picture of Eitan with Pappy. They are very good friends and really enjoyed seeing each other again. (I also found out that Eitan shoots Nikon so we had a definite bond)

Tonight we plan to go down to the Sea of Galilee after dinner to sit and enjoy the Sea with a bonfire (which will be intersting considering how hot it is here!). Tomorrow we take a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, visit a kibbutz on the opposite shore of the Sea where we will supposedly eat the best fish you can get anywhere in the world (yes, this is the one where I have to eat it while it still possesses its head). There is also a boat that is 2000 years old at the kibbutz that was preserved in the mud on the Sea and recently found. We will do some more shopping there and then head back to the west shore. Once back, we will head to the Jordan river where a few people in the group will have the opportunity to be baptised. Should be another exciting day!

Israel - Day 7 - Addendum for Dave

Ok Dave, you wanted a picture of me on a ill tempered camel in the desert with nomadic headgear - here you go. I bought the "authentic" headgear from a bedouin who was wearing the exact same thing and he even tied it for me so I think it is as close as I am going to get. I got up on the camel with my camera equipment and instantly regretted it. Camels are highly unstable!!!! I thought for sure I was going to come tumbling down (hence the very serious look on my face). Anyway, your souvenir has been delivered!

Israel - Day 7

Day 7 was a short day so there's a little less to write. We started by heading to the Judean Wilderness for some reflection time. The wilderness is completely barren as far as the eye can see. It is amazing to think that the Israelites were out there for 40 years and the bedouins continue to live out in these conditions. The area was filled with bedouins trying to sell us items. It was neat getting to talk to them. The boy in the picture below was certainly not shy around tourists. He walked right up to Adrienne and snagged her camera from her to put up to his eye. Notice that he is not wearing any shoes. This is incredible when you think of the rocky landscape. He slid down a loose rocky hill and it didn't even phase him. The rocks are very sharp - my feet wouldn't last 20 seconds! I intentionally left the photo close to full size (when you click on it) so you can see his feet.



The bedouins had a burro that I thought was cool. I had to have my picture taken with him. He definitely liked people. Notice how the background is white. The sky was so hazy yesterday that you couldn't see very far out over the mountain we were on. From the vantage point of the camera, all you could see was white off in the distance. It was a bit of an eerie feeling.



We went from there to the Spring of Harod. Notice how in just a short drive we went from harsh desert where nothing could grow to a beautiful lush area with a multitude of different flowers. This is a natural spring that comes out of the mountain and feeds a small stream. The water allows the area to remain fertile while the areas around struggle to grow any vegetation.



Here is the actual spring. It is normally a lot higher but the water levels are really down this year. Our tour guide was shocked and is not sure exactly what is causing it to be that low. We are in the dry season but that should not be affecting the spring this much.

This spring is the spot where God had Gideon wittle his army down to just 300 men to go in and fight the Midianites so that he would know his victory was reliant on God and not on their military strength. The way he decided on the men to go in fight was based on how they drank from the stream (lapping up the water or cupping their hands and bringing the water up to their mouths.



We moved from the Spring to our final stop of the day which was Bet She'an. The area we were in had two different civilization areas. The first is a tel where they have found the remains of 23 different civilizations. The area around the Tel is where the ancient Bet She'an city of the Roman Empire was built. This was one of the 10 cities of the Roman Decapolis. It became a very large city for the time with a population nearing 40,000. Below is a picture of the theatre that would have been one of the primary pasttimes for the residents.

While the majority of the group toured the Roman city, a select group decided to climb the Tel to get a better view of the area from the top. While the Tel was very steep and would have been a difficult time, they made it easier by putting in a staircase to the top. While long, this made the hike fairly easy.

From the top, you could look down on the remains of the ancient city. This is another photo that I left large so you could see more of what is below. You can see the sky was still extremely hazy.

After eating a late lunch (after 2:00) at Bet She'an, we headed to our hotel on the Sea of Galilee. We were settled in by 3:30 and had the evenings to ourselves. As this is the half way point of our touring, it was nice to have a little recoupe time to gain some more energy for the remainder of the trip. Some of our group headed down to the Sea of Galilee to swim but most stayed back to just relax. We enjoyed a delicious dinner at the hotel with a painful quantity of different desserts (no way you could possibly taste all the ones that looked good - very troubling!).

Today we are off to attend church with Eitan Shishkoff, a local rabbi. We are going to get to visit with him afterward and then will head to Mount Megiddo. We are scheduled to meet Pappy's friends, the Crowells, this afternoon but I'm not sure if that is still going to happen. We shall see!

Internet is a problem at this hotel because they want to charge $20 per day and I am cheap. I am going to try to blog this evening (Israel time) about today and then not get internet tomorrow. Then I will do the same on Monday (blog about Sunday in the morning and about Monday in the evening) in order to save some costs.

Talk to you later!

Israel - Day 6

We started day 6 with a return trip to the Old City. We went to the Jerusalem Archaeological Park. We were able to see some of the excavations, particularly the ritual baths that were used to cleanse those who came to the temple to offer sacrifices. We were able to sit on the remains of the temple steps - steps that date back more than 2000 years. Below is a picture of my family on the steps.



We were also able to see a mount of massive rocks that remain from when the Romans tore down the Temple. The rocks have been left as a reminder of the destruction.

We moved from the Park to the Wailing Wall. On Thursdays the Jews celebrate Bar Mitzvahs. The boy and their family march through the city with loud drums, music, and singing and make their way to the Wailing Wall. It was a very impressive celebration (wish my birthdays were that exciting!). The boys and their male relatives work their way to the men's side of the Wall and the women to the women's side of the Wall. The women stand on chairs so they can see over the divider so they can see the continuation of the celebration. They throw candy at the boy and cheer. It was really a neat thing to watch. Below is a picture of one of the boys with his family holding the Torah.

I was wrong about not being able to take pictures of the people at the Wailing Wall. It is not discouraged as long as you are not in people's faces (thanks to Dave for mentioning that in a comment to my previous post). The below picture was one of my favorites from the day as it represents the mix of people who come to the Wall to offer prayer. The second man from the right was American and the one to the left was from Burma. It was quite an amazing experience.

From the Wailing Wall, we moved to the Jerusalem Museum where we were able to view a model of how archeologists and historians believe Jerusalem would have looked around 66 A.D. It was really neat to put together the location of the Temple and other important areas of the city. We had a fascinating discussion with Hannah about the details and came away with a much better understanding of ancient Jerusalem.

Also at the museum, we were able to view a piece of one of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

After eating lunch at the museum, we left for the Valley of Elah. Along the way we stopped at the remains of a city that is believed to be where Samson grew up. We were able to look around at the surrounding areas that would have been controlled by the Phillistines for much of the time as we were reminded of some of the stories of Samson and the Phillistines.

We ventured on to the Valley of Elah where David killed Goliath. We read through the story and Uncle John talked to us about overcoming the giants in our lives. I climbed the mountain that the Israelites would have been encamped on to snap the below picture looking out over the fields on and mountainside where the Phillistines were encamped. My mom and the rest of the group collected stones from the stream bed much like David did back in the day.

From the Valley of Elah we returned to our hotel. After a brief break a group of us went back into the Old City to shop and then returned to the hotel to eat dinner.

After dinner my mom, uncle, and I hopped in a cab to head to Hebrew University for some night cityscape shots of Jerusalem. We had no idea we were in for such an adventure. The mountain that the university sits on was closed off (thanks again to the Pope) so we quickly changed our plans to take shots from the Mount of Olives only to find that the roads to the Mount of Olives were also blocked. Our taxi driver knew the city well and drove us a long way around the city to arrive fairly close to the Mount of the Olives. He assured us we could hike from there.

We took his word and started to hike only to find that we eventually hit a street that was completely blocked off by the Isreali military. They took my Passport but decided despite the fact that I was a "professional photographer from America" that I could not pass. We couldn't figure out how we were going to get back to the hotel so we decided to stay put for 30 minutes at which time we were told we would be able to pass. A man approached us and asked we were trying to go and upon hearing the Mount of Olives told us to follow him. Feeling like we were really on an adventure we would our way through alleys and down stairs until we eventually let out on another street. Come to find out, the man helping us was an off-duty police officer. He finally pointed us in the direction of the Mount of Olives. We thanked him and hiked off again. I estimated that we had about 5 to 10 minutes left before the sky that makes night cityscapes so beautiful disappeared. We could see we were in the right spot but could not figure out how to get up to the overlooks.

We finally ducked through a door in a fence that was open and headed down a driveway where we guessed we could see the city. A bunch of kids came out to meet us and were very excited to see foreigners. We moved on to a small private orchard where we could get a glimpse of the city but the ideal sky had already passed and it was a bit too dark. I snapped three shots before deciding we had better head back to the street to begin figuring out how to get back to the hotel. We were surrounded by kids once again who were yelling with delight and asking us our names. I have no idea what the younger ones were saying but an older girl (probably around 10) actually spoke very good English.

Once past the kids we were able to hail a cab who told us he would try to get us back to the hotel (so many streets were closed because of the Pope that it was not going to be an easy task). We would throughout the back streets of the city and the driver eventually told us that we may have to sleep in the Mount of Olives and head back to the hotel in the morning (luckily I think he was joking). We eventually hit a security checkpoint with both Israeli and Palestinian security forces where we were allowed to pass after they examined my passport and the taxi driver sweet talked the soldier. After more winding through streets, we finally made it back to the hotel.

So after $40 in cab fairs, a ton of driving, and a lot of hiking we returned with three pictures, an incredible story, and a few new friends. I guess most people would call that worthwhile. Here's an early look at one of the three images.

Israel - Day 5 - Part II

Day 5 was less a picture day and more an experience day. We hiked very quickly through the city so there wasn't a lot of time to stop and capture images. Here's a brief recap of what we saw (in reverse order because I uploaded the pictures wrong and don't have time to reupload).

The last stop was the garden tomb where we believe Jesus was buried. There are two locations that Christians believe are possibilities but this one is more believable. Regardless, it was an incredible experience. Our guide through the garden is pictured in the second picture below and the actual tomb is directly below.





The following two images are from Basilique Sainte Anne inside the Old City portion of Jerusalem. The church there has amazing acoustics so we had to sing a little (it was pretty awesome) and you can see my Uncle John standing up front speaking. The second picture shows what remains of the Pools of Bethesda. This is one of the few spots from Biblical times in Jerusalem where we are actually positive that we have the right spot.

Below is how we started our day. We are standing on the Mount of Olives and Uncle John and Hannah (our tour guide) are pointing out what we can see and reminding us of the significance. This is where I shot the panorama in the Part I post below.

Joe Shulam talked to the group last night for an hour and a half and then joined us for dinner to close out the evening.

Today we return to the Old City and will view the Wailing Wall and Western Wall and will head from there to the Valley of Elah where David fought Goliath. Should be another exciting day. One of the pictures I want is of the Wailing Wall but it is a tough shot to get because you are not supposed to shoot the people there. Should be a challenge.

Pappy Update - Pappy is still doing well. He was very wise yesterday and elected to return to the hotel instead of hiking through Jerusalem with us. We were sad that he could not join us (especially at the garden tomb) but greatful that he took some time to rest and didn't try to do too much. He is in good spirits and is enjoying himself.